


Should Have

by hamstercheese7



Category: One Piece
Genre: Angst, F/M, Marriage, One Shot, Regret, Unrequited Love
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-01
Updated: 2020-07-01
Packaged: 2021-03-04 22:01:14
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,105
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25013599
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hamstercheese7/pseuds/hamstercheese7
Summary: Always take the chance, otherwise someone else will.
Relationships: Coby/Tashigi, Smoker/Tashigi (One Piece)
Kudos: 15





	Should Have

Smoker stood at the back of the venue, leaning on the railing of the balcony overlooking the ocean, watching the wedding patrons, most of whom he knew, get plastered and dance in the middle of the hall. He was glad that he was mostly hidden from sight by the wedding decorations, not in any mood to talk to anyone. The ceremony had ended about a half hour ago, and Tashigi…

...was officially married. And he’d been the one to do it. The words still tasted like ash in his mouth. Pronouncing that she was now someone else’s. 

He’d had a thousand chances to tell her. She’d been at his side for years, from Loguetown, to Alabasta, to the New World, to the very end of the world on their wild chase after Mugiwara. Stayed by his side as the Navy descended into chaos, torn apart at last by ideals that could no longer reckon with one another. 

He eyed the glass of champagne in his hand. It was his fifth glass, and he knew tomorrow he would be feeling it. The sound of footsteps made him look back up and the breath caught in his throat. Tashigi was walking over to him in low heels, her wedding dress giving her an angelic aura as it reflected the light from the reception hall. She smiled at him and he found himself unable not to smile back. 

She came to a stop in front of him, tucking an errant lock of hair back behind her ear. “Sir,” she greeted him, still respectfully even after all they had been through together, even though she knew him probably better than he knew himself. He wasn’t sure what to say to her, except the truth. That she looked beautiful, the kind of praise he’d never given to her before. A flush spread across her face at his words, his heart dropping into his stomach in response. “I wanted to thank you for your speech,” she said softly. To thank him for marrying her to the man she loved. To the man that wasn’t him.

He’d had a thousand chances. When she lay in her quarters in Alabasta, and he told her to get stronger. He could have told her then, that he was proud of her, that she was strong enough in the ways that mattered. At Marineford before The War of the Best as she stood next to him, shaking but determined to see it through. He could have told her then that he admired her, that even though she was but a speck of dust compared to all the raw power on the field that day, the fact that she didn’t run and stayed by his side made all the difference in the world to him.

It was the alcohol that made him ask her if she wanted to dance, the smile on her face as she took his hand to lead her to the dance floor would be something he could never forget. “I didn’t know you could dance,” she laughed as he spun her around. He didn’t say that for her, he would do anything. 

He’d had a thousand chances. When he was nearly murdered by Doflamingo and lay recovering in his quarters as she took his hand and cried, telling him that she was sorry she wasn’t there to help. He should have told her then that her sitting there next to his bedside meant more to him than her being next to him on the battlefield. 

Tashigi was radiant, her inky black waves tumbled gently down her back, her dress clinging to her curves like God himself had made it for her. She smiled as he pulled her close, leaning her head softly on his chest, her hand small in his as they swayed slowly on the floor, the rest of the world fading until it was just them. Just him and her, like it always was. He leaned down, close to her ear, resting his cheek against her crown. She slowly looked up at him, “Smoker…,” she whispered. Her face just inches from his own, her big brown eyes gazing at him slightly confused by his actions.

He’d had a thousand chances. That night, in the rain, before the world crashed down around their heads. Before it went mad and the War to End All Wars began. He should have told her that night as they stood on the prow of their warship under the pale moonlight, barely an inch apart. When she tilted her face up at him, the light rain dotting her eyelashes, the sight taking his breath away. 

He should have told her then that he loved her.

Something caught her eye, or someone else rather. A man with pink hair, his glasses holding it out of his face, was approaching them. His friend, Smoker’s next in line to lead the Navy. One of the best men he knew. The only man that could ever come close to deserving her. 

But he never told her. 

Because there were always more pirates. Because the time was never right. Because she looked at him and used him to set her standards, standards high enough that few men even came close. Because to say it would mean she could leave him after seeing the parts of him that didn’t live up to her expectations. Because she was always by his side, always there, and he thought she always would be.

And now he couldn’t.

“Tashigi,” he said softly. Her eyes flicked back to him. He looked at her, so close and yet so far. He took a breath, “I’m happy for you,” he whispered, the words genuine despite the pain reflected in his eyes. She stared at him, as his hand tightened around hers before he pulled back as the song came to an end. He stepped back from her, turning and walking away as her now husband reached her side.

As he stepped out, a familiar figure joined him at the railing. Hina, dressed in an all white pants suit, her pink hair up high, in heels that made her a little taller than him. She was holding two glasses of champagne, one of which she passed to him. 

They watched Coby pull Tashigi close as they swayed slowly in the middle of the dance floor, her head on his chest, a smile on her face. “You’re an idiot, Smoker-kun,” Hina whispered as she leaned her head softly on his shoulder, a sympathetic gesture from an old friend.

He took a breath and downed the rest of his champagne in one go. 

**Author's Note:**

> My brain felt the need to get on the angst train to pain town. I missed writing SmoTash, and somehow this came out. I see a lot of fics that have Tashigi pining after Smoker and it being unrequited. I felt like doing it the other way around with the added bonus of Smoker being the officiant and now I am sad.
> 
> Let me know your thoughts!
> 
> As always, thank you for reading and you can find me on twitter @buggyisbest


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